A well-known Cromer artist and photographer pair are hoping their latest exhibition will - quite literally – raise the roof.

Femme Fatale, by Cromer photographer David Morris.
Photo: DAVID MORRIS

Painter Paul Darley and former Professional Photographer of the Year David Morris, who regularly team up to stage joint exhibitions, decided that because their new show, in the town council chambers at Cromer’s North Lodge Park, is slightly off the beaten track, they would need to do “something big” to attract attention.

The exhibition will feature images by Yorkshire-born Mr Morris, whose recent projects have included behind-the-scenes studies of performers at Great Yarmouth’s Hippodrome circus, and ‘Nocturnes’, a series of atmospheric night-time scenes captured along the north Norfolk coast.

June Surf, by Cromer-based artist Paul Darley.
Photo: Paul Darley

These will go on show alongside artwork by Mr Darley, who paints Cromer fishermen, figures on the beach and Norfolk landscapes, and whose work has been exhibited in Norfolk, London and Switzerland.

Keen to ensure the show was a success, Mr Morris, who juggles photography projects with teaching creative advertising at colleges and universities all over Europe, came up with the idea of running a series of ‘teasers’ on Facebook.

Photographer David Morris and painter Paul Darley emerging from the roof of an exploded North Lodge Park in an image created by Mr Morris to promote an exhibition the friends are staging in the Cromer Town Council chambers.
Photo: DAVID MORRIS

The poster-style images show the roof of the iconic Cromer building starting to shake, then emit steam before finally cracking and exploding to reveal the two smiling, giant-sized artists.

“Because of where North Lodge Park is, we are relying on passing footfall, so social media was going to be really important,” Mr Morris explained.

Going Home, by Cromer-based photographer David Morris.
Photo: DAVID MORRIS

Thanks to the friends’ innovative advertising campaign, the pop-up-style North Lodge Park exhibition has already attracted quite a bit of interest, with tongue in cheek comments on Facebook asking whether “emotions were running high at the last town council meeting?”, and: “Does it take off?”

“I thought nobody had taken any notice at first,” Mr Morris said. “But I was surprised by how many people had seen it and wondered what the cracking roof and steam was all about.”